Ecclesiastes 10

Ecclesiastes 10:10

Try A Grindstone If the iron [axe] be blunt.—Ecclesiastes 10:10.Hate you ever tried to break sticks with a very blunt axe? If you have, you know what a hard job it is. You chop and chop, and better chop; but by the end of five minutes all you have managed to do is to make a dent in the wood, and tire out your arm and your temper. Possibly, too, you may have succeeded in chopping your finger quite successfully, although you have failed to chop your log.With a newly sharpened axe it is quite another business. The wood seems to fall apart at a touch. Breaking sticks with an axe like that is a real pleasure. And it is the same with other tools. A sharp tool is the only tool worth using.You have seen a man cutting long grass with a scythe.

And you have admired the way he swished through it with his dangerous-looking weapon—for it seemed more like a weapon than a tool. But every now and then he stopped, picked up his whetstone, and carefully sharpened the edge of the scythe. That man knew that the secret of good work and easy work was to keep his tool sharp. Why, even a pen-knife is of no use if it is blunt. You have to sharpen it on the sole of your shoe, or else ask father to do it for you on his razor strop. As for blunt scissors! The girls will tell me that if you try to clip with them you’ll clip only a jagged tear in your cloth. Yes, there’s no doubt about it—to use a blunt tool is a sheer waste of time and strength.

It tires you thoroughly, and the work itself is badly done. The only way to make a really good job is to have a fine edge on your tools.Now we don’t call ourselves axes or chisels or saws or knives, but we are all tools nevertheless. We are tools with three blades, and if we want to do any good in the world we must keep each blade as keen and bright as a razor. I wonder what are our three blades.1. Well, our first blade is our body. I think some of you are wondering how you are going to sharpen your body. You can’t point yourself like a pencil, can you? And I am not going to advise you to sharpen your tongue, for that is the only thing about you that should not be sharp.

No, when we speak of a sharp tool we speak of it as being “in good condition” so what I want you to do is to keep your body in good condition. How can you do that? By sleeping well, eating well (but not too well), and playing well.God wants us to be well and strong. When Christ was on earth, you remember how He was always making sick people well or hungry people satisfied. He took care of their bodies, and He wants us to take care of ours. People are very sensible about their bodies nowadays.

They know just how to treat them, and they are not like the saints and hermits of old who thought they were pleasing God when they tortured and starved their bodies. That is not what God wants; He wants us to be kind to our bodies in the right way, not to pamper them, of course, but to treat them well and wisely.Boys and girls, you have a splendid chance—a better chance than the older people—to keep this first blade in good condition, for you haven’t lived long enough to get it blunted or spoiled.

It is your duty, then, to make it into a really fine tool for your own and God’s use.2. Perhaps you will have guessed the second blade. It is our mind. We must keep that in as fine condition as we do our body. Here again you little people have a splendid chance to turn out a beautiful tool, for you can determine to sharpen your mind all you know how. You have life before you, school before you, college or business also before you, and you can use all these as mind sharpeners. They are magnificent grindstones.I shall tell you why it is important that you should sharpen your mind. It is because there is not room in the world for blunt minds.

Blunt minds are like the old stone axes our forefathers had. They are of no use today. Just say to yourself, “I’m going to do and be the very best I can. I’m going to know all I can, and attempt all I can,” and there’s no danger that you won’t succeed.There is one danger, however, and that is the danger of over-sharpening. Don’t overdo the sharpening. It is remarkable, but true, that if you sharpen your mind too much it turns blunt. Don’t overwork or overtire your brain. You know what it is to try to do a difficult sum at the end of an evening’s preparation.

The sum simply won’t come out, and the more you work at it the more muddled and tired and cross you become. The best way is to put it aside till the morning. You will do it in five minutes before breakfast, and you can get up five minutes earlier so as not to be rushed. You will do it in five minutes because your mind as well as your body has had a night’s rest.3. The third blade we must keep sharp is our spirit. The edge of this blade has a special name; we call it “conscience.” Someone asked a little Indian boy what his conscience was. He thought a minute, and then he put his hand on his heart and said, “It is a little three-cornered thing inside here. When I do wrong it turns round and round, and hurts me very much.

If I keep on doing wrong, it will turn until all the edges wear off and then it will not hurt any more”Keep the little three-cornered edge of conscience sharp, boys and girls. The more it hurts the better. If we let it grow blunt we shall be in a sad case. Let us sharpen it in three ways—one for each edge—first by listening to it, second by obeying it, and third by praying God to sharpen it for us.

Ecclesiastes 10:20

The Little Bird That Tells A bird of the air shall carry the voice.—Ecclesiastes 10:20.I wonder how many of you know the story of the “cranes of Ibycos.”Ibycos was a Greek poet who lived more than five hundred years before Christ. He was murdered near Corinth by robbers. As he lay dying, a flock of cranes flew overhead and he called upon them to avenge his death. His murderers went with their plunder to Corinth and, shortly after, as they were sitting amid the crowds in the theatre, the same flock of cranes hovered above them. One of the men cried out in terror, “Behold the avengers of Ibycos!” So the guilty secret was betrayed, and the murderers were brought to justice.That is rather a terrible story, and yet I wonder if you and I have not met something rather like it. I think we have.

Have you never done something you didn’t want your mother to know? You thought you had hidden all traces of the deed, and that she couldn’t possibly find out. And then you discovered that in some mysterious way she knew all about it. Who told her? You never mentioned it, and your companions were bound to secrecy. Who then betrayed you?It must have been that unusual creature we call “the little bird that tells.”It’s strange how little boys’ mothers Can find out all as they do, If a fellow does anything naughty Or says anything that’s not true! They’ll look at you just for a moment, Till your heart in your bosom swells, And then they know all about it, For a little birdie tells. He is an odd little bird that! Nobody has ever seen the nest where he was born, or the egg out of which he was hatched. Nobody ever catches him. You may lay down nets and set snares, but he always eludes you. And yet he is always there, and he always tells. Provoking little bird!Shall I tell you the favorite name of this little bird? I think it is “conscience,” a conscience that pricks. Isn’t it that that often gives us away when we have done wrong, that tells in spite of us?

Listen to this story.Once upon a time there was an Indian prince who was immensely wealthy. One morning he discovered that a large portion of his treasure had been stolen overnight. So he called all his wise men together and commanded them to discover which of his servants had committed the crime.Now that was a difficult task, for the royal staff was large and varied. Many suggestions were made by the sages, but none of them met with the king’s approval.At last the oldest of them all made a proposal. “Your majesty,” said he, “I have at home some magic sticks, and their magic consists in this—if one of them is shut up overnight with a thief it grows two inches longer before morning. Let your servants be shut up for one night—each in a separate cell and each with one of these sticks. In the morning you will easily discover the culprit.”The prince did as he was advised, and next morning it was found that none of the sticks were longer, but one was two inches shorter.

The wise man immediately pointed to the servant in whose keeping it had been and said, “That is the thief.”The guilty servant fell down at the prince’s feet, begging for mercy and confessing that it was indeed the case. Then he told how he had watched the stick all night, at first imagining, and then feeling quite certain, that it was growing longer.

At last, his guilty fear got such a hold of him that he took out his knife and cut exactly two inches off the stick.And that was just what the wise man had expected. There was nothing at all peculiar about the sticks, but he knew how conscience would work.And, boys and girls, when we are trying to hide anything that is wrong it is often a look on our face or a strange way of acting that betrays us; and these are just the outward expression of a conscience that is pricking us and making us feel uncomfortable.So after all the little bird that tells is a good little bird and a true friend. For when we grow so bold and brazen that the little bird no longer tells, it is a very bad sign indeed.It is good to have a little bird that tells, and it is good to have a mother that can understand his messages. But it is best of all not to require the services of that little bird because all we do is straight and above-board.